


the same capacity for love

by green_piggy



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Character Study, Fluff, Gen, Post-Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:46:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28248597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_piggy/pseuds/green_piggy
Summary: Ten years after the end of the war, Python and Forsyth meet up with Lukas, and spend the night discussing themselves, each other, and their feelings.
Relationships: Fols | Forsyth & Lukas & Python
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	the same capacity for love

**Author's Note:**

> zine: hey do you want to write about a bunch of characters who are ace and/or aro  
> me, tripping over myself: BOY WOULD I
> 
> written for the lovely [rally spectrum+ zine!](https://twitter.com/rallyspeczine) it was an absolute blessing to be able to write my favourite rgb boys - thank you for having me! <3 make sure to check out everyone else's pieces as well~

It took more knocked doors and blurted apologies than Python would ever admit, but, eventually, they found themselves at the entrance to Lukas’s house. It was a quiet little place, tucked away near the river, isolated from most of the village. When Forsyth gave the rickety door an enthusiastic rattle and Lukas’s smiling face greeted them, it almost felt like coming home.

“Lukas!” Forsyth cried, somehow sounding surprised. He dropped his bag — Python scrambled forward to catch it with a squawk — and rushed forward to crush Lukas in a hug that could snap bones. “It’s so wonderful to see you!”

Lukas’ arms flailed in the air and froze, before they slowly came down and rested around Forsyth. “...You as well, Forsyth.”

“Oi!” Python called, dropping off their bags on the nearest stool. “Forgettin’ about me already, eh?”

Lukas raised his head from where it had been hidden by Forsyth’s shoulder. “How could anyone forget you, Python?” he teased, eyes twinkling with amusement.

Somehow still keeping an arm around Lukas, Forsyth turned to Python with his other arm stretched out. “Come here, you fool!”

“No need to nag!” Grinning to himself, Python let himself be engulfed by the two most important people in his life. Ten years since the war, and he was still the tallest out of them.

“Python, stop  _ smirking.” _

“Am not!”

As Lukas lit candles and they all settled around the kitchen table, bottles of alcohol in hand, Python sipped on his glass of water and got an idea.

“Oi, Lukas,” he asked, “so what exactly happened to your lady friend, anyway?”

Forsyth spat out his drink. “Your  _ what!?” _

He regretted asking as soon as he saw Lukas’ eyes cool. It was a subtle thing — everything about Lukas was miniscule, barely noticeable — but impossible to ignore if you knew where to look. Python caught every fraction of the inch that had been Lukas’s tiny smile fading into a thin pale line. Guilt gnawed through his stomach like poison.

“I…” Lukas lowered his cup. “Well. Prior to the war, I had been courting a woman.”

“You were?” Forsyth blinked. “Why, I never would have guessed!”

“It didn’t last.”

There was a pause. Python’s skin itched with guilt and awkwardness. Just as he was about to speak, Lukas sighed, fully resting his glass on the table.

“I realised that I wasn’t interested in her in the typical manner. I had no desire to court her; to hold her hand, or to embrace her, or…” It was difficult to make out Lukas’s face. The dim candle light flickered long shadows on his face, but his eyebrows were drawn together. “...or any of what typically comes with a relationship. So I ended it.”

“Not at all?”

“Be nice, Forsyth.” The words tumbled out of Python’s gob before he could stop them. Forsyth turned, chair creaking as he did, and gave Python an inquisitive look. Lukas flashed Python a grateful smile.

Even just a few years ago, Forsyth would have snapped at Python, feathers ruffled, about how of course he was being nice; if anything,  _ Python  _ was the one not being nice! Honestly!

But now, although he did frown, he didn’t shout or yell; he just turned back, looking curious. Time really had softened some of his more caustic edges.

“What are you  _ smiling  _ at?” Forsyth hissed, elbowing his side.

...Never mind.

“Nothin’,” he drawled, snorting at Forsyth’s little huff. He tip-tapped his fingernails on the table. “But Lukey and I—”

_ “Lukas,”  _ came the incredibly half-hearted and resigned reply.

“—are pretty much the same when it comes to all of that ‘one true love’ crap.”

“You are?”

“I am.” Lukas smiled now. To most people, it wouldn’t have been perceivable; his lips barely lifted. But when he smiled,  _ really  _ smiled, his eyes lit up as though the sun was breaking through grey clouds. Python wouldn’t have ever called himself a poet, but he could think of no other way to describe it. “I used to… resent that part of me. I was certain that a vital piece of me was ‘broken’. But I was taught by someone important to me—” His gaze shifted to Python then, smile widening— “that there was nothing wrong with me at all. That I should take my life at my own pace, and not concern myself with what the people around me did.”

“I could  _ see  _ why you’d feel like that…” Forsyth murmured, cupping his chin in his hand. “Sir Clive and Lady Mathilda could be — well.” He winced. “...Rather cloying at times, even for my standards.”

“I’d go with  _ mawkish  _ myself,” Python muttered.

“Of _course_ you would!” Forsyth cried. “Not that there’s anything wrong with being the way you are, but, goodness, Python, you wouldn’t know what was romantic if it kneeled down and proposed to you!”

“Oh, I’m sure I could get people to kneel for me—”

_ “DO NOT!” _

Lukas’s chuckles broke off Python’s attempt at a reply. He and Forsyth both turned to him; the candlelight caught glimpses of the kind smile on Forsyth’s face, the joy in his own eyes.

“You two are ever the troublemakers, hmm?”

“I make no trouble at all!” Forsyth objected. He thrust a finger at Python’s chest. “He’s the rascal!”

Python picked off Forsyth’s finger, turned it, and jabbed it into Forsyth’s own chest. “Uh-huh.”

“Don’t  _ ‘uh-huh’  _ me!”

_ “‘Uh-huh.’” _

“You-!” He huffed and crossed his arms. “A-Anyway! I had something I wished to say!”

Lukas tilted his head. “Oh?”

Even Python kept his mouth shut. He leaned back on the chair, one arm over the back, and continued to drink from his glass.

Forsyth’s cheeks coloured. “A-ahem! Well.” He thudded his chest and coughed. “I wanted to say that I’m very happy for you, Lukas. That you’re comfortable with who you are, I mean. I may not understand  _ how  _ you feel, but it would be a most terribly boring world if we were all the same!”

“We don’t all go gooey eyed over every person of any gender who smiles at us.” Python smirked.

“I-I — be  _ quiet!” _ Forsyth waved a dismissive hand, not looking at him, cheeks burning. “What I wanted to say is; I apologise. For not having realised you were struggling with your own identity. No one should have to wage such a war, much less with themselves! You should be whoever you are and accepted without question.” His smile was tender. “At the end of it all, regardless of who we are attracted to, or how we may be attracted to them, if at all, we all hold the same capacity for love.”

Silence fell, interrupted only by the quiet wildlife of the nocturnal birds chirping outside and the gentle gurgling of the nearby stream. Python was trying to say words — he really was — but they were lodged in his throat, stopped by a sudden lump he couldn’t seem to work around.

Judging from Lukas’ wide eyes and the slight tremble in his fingers, he wasn’t the only one.

“...I hope I wasn’t overstepping,” Forsyth mumbled into his collar, sounding disheartened. “I know I can be overzealous, and — well. I only wished to say my own piece. I know the both of you don’t — experience these feelings of romance like I do. All I wanted to say that is — that. Well.” Forsyth’s entire face, from chin to forehead, coloured. “...I love you both. You are both very special to me. And I know that you feel the same, about me and each other.”

“Course we do, dummy,” Python managed to whisper. He made to take a long drink to avoid looking at either of them, and glared at his empty cup. “...Idiot. You think I’ve  _ — we’ve —  _ stuck around this long ‘cause we secretly hate you? Don’t be silly.”

“Of course I don’t-!”

A small, wet laugh came from Lukas. He didn’t glance up from his half-empty cup, but his eyes were glistening. “...Thank you. Forsyth, Python. I…” He grimaced. “I apologise — the words, they’re…”

“You don’t need to say ‘em,” Python said. “We  _ know, _ Lukas. Don’t stress your little head about it. You’re fine just the way you are. We all are, and I’ll shoot an arrow in the heads of anyone who says otherwise.”

Lukas flashed them a warm smile. Python couldn’t help but return it.

“Hear hear!” Forsyth hollered. He raised his glass, as did Python and Lukas, and they clinked them all together with a cacophonous cheer.

Python may not have understood romance. He may not understand what made people want to slide a ring onto another’s finger, to love only a single person, but he knew this much:

He loved Forsyth and Lukas, more than he’d ever loved anyone else in his life, and they loved him, and that was more than enough for him. That was all he needed to know.

**Author's Note:**

> [ [twitter](https://twitter.com/greenpiggles) ]
> 
> just to clarify for anyone who may be unsure, i hc (and wrote) the lads as follows:
> 
> lukas: aromantic asexual  
> forsyth: panromantic asexual  
> python: aromantic pansexual
> 
> if you enjoyed the fic, please consider leaving a kudos and/or comment! thanks so much, and have a great day :3


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